Video 6:49
Queensland coroner examines detainee's death

Documents from a Queensland inquest into the death of a detainee at the Scherger Air Force base show he had traces of anti-depressant in his system.

Transcript

CHRIS UHLMANN, PRESENTER: While debate rages about conditions at the Nauru detention centre, a Queensland inquest is highlighting some of the troubles with onshore detention.

The coroner is examining the death of a young Hazara man at the Scherger Air Force Base in remote far north Queensland and documents released to 7.30 show he had traces of an anti-depressant in his system, a drug not found in his medical records.

Peter McCutcheon reports.

PETER MCCUTCHEON, REPORTER: Hassan Ghulam has been studying the diary of an asylum seeker, a 20-year-old man who apparently committed suicide. The scribblings range from simple English exercises to accusations of murder and obsessive repetitions of different names.

PETER MCCUTCHEON: Miqdad Hassain was found hanged in his dormitory in far north Queensland in March last year. It's the latest in a series of deaths raising questions about the level of mental healthcare in detention centres, with the NSW Coroner last year criticising a health provider in relation to three men who committed suicide at the centre at Villawood.

LOUISE NEWMAN, PSYCHIATRIST, MONASH UNI.: I think the challenge that the system faces at the moment is considerable. Whilst we certainly have a greater number of mental health staff within the system, we have to be aware that there are limitations as to what can actually be treated within detention.

PETER MCCUTCHEON: Miqdad Hassain was an ethnic Hazara, a group often targeted by the Taliban in Afghanistan and on the Pakistani border. The Queensland Coroner is now trying to work out why he would take his own life after travelling thousands of kilometres and spending four months in detention. This inquest offers a rare glimpse into life behind the fences of Australia's most remote onshore detention centre, the Scherger Air Force Base on Cape York Peninsula.

MOHAMMAD MASUMI (voiceover translation): Everyone in the detention centre develops mental health problems, not just Miqdad. ... Everybody has the same problem, but some people are stronger than others.

PETER MCCUTCHEON: Mohammad Masumi was a friend of the deceased and the last one to have seen him alive. He blames the apparent suicide on uncertainty and isolation.

PETER MCCUTCHEON: Yet the initial mental health assessments of Miqdad Hassain judged the young Hazara to be a low risk. But after only two months in detention in Scherger, his diary documents a rapid mental decline.

PETER MCCUTCHEON: Hassan Ghulam is a leader of the Hazara community in Queensland and visited Scherger just after the tragedy. And one thing caught his attention: the alleged widespread use of medication.

HASSAN GHULAM: I was told that people were queuing during the evening and there were boxes of medication and then one after the other they were taking their medication either on the spot there or taken to their room.

PETER MCCUTCHEON: Now most witnesses have so far told the Miqdad Hassain inquest that medication in the Scherger centre is strictly supervised. But several exhibits released by the Coroner to 7.30 reveal an anomaly: an autopsy found Miqdad Hassain had taken a prescription-only anti-depressant, yet a summary of his medical records state he received no prescribed medication.

LOUISE NEWMAN: Well that sort of situation obviously needs to be quite clearly investigated.

HASSAN GHULAM: The impact of medication is number one. He was depressed. There is no record of any therapy, any introduction to psychologists, to psychiatrists.

PETER MCCUTCHEON: And coronial hearings in Cairns last week also revealed gaps in the detention centre's system of welfare checks. The centre manager employed by the service's company Serco admitted one of his staff had failed to check on Miqdad Hassain when he missed a meal on the day he died and had falsely recorded this visit had taken place. The revelation angered Mohammad Masumi.

MOHAMMAD MASUMI (voiceover translation): I give you my personal opinion. If Serco was doing its duty thoroughly, I'm sure he would still be with us today.

PETER MCCUTCHEON: And he says this is not an isolated case.

MOHAMMAD MASUMI (voiceover translation): At the beginning, it was OK. But later on they became very reluctant. Nobody was worrying about you.

PETER MCCUTCHEON: Now Serco has disputed this and told the Coroner that detainees were often asleep and weren't aware welfare checks had been carried out. In a statement to 7.30, a company spokesman said, "Mr Hussain's death was a tragedy which was deeply upsetting for our staff and the people in our care at the Scherger centre. Our thoughts are with his family and friends. We are committed to preventing people from coming to harm and will continue assisting the Queensland State Coroner."

Our interview with Hassan Ghulam was interrupted with a telephone call from the Pakistan-Afghan border. It was Miqdad Hassain's cousin. Hassan Ali explained how his family believes Miqdad Hassain was murdered and they find it hard to believe the disturbed writings in the diary.

HASSAN GHULAM: He's saying this notebook could be also from his enemies, you know, written by his enemies.

PETER MCCUTCHEON: But the Queensland Police investigation found there were no suspicious circumstances.

Most of the witnesses before the inquest say Miqdad Hassain was a quiet young man who showed no abnormal behaviour, although there were some reports of him becoming increasingly withdrawn and eating less in the final week of his life. And mental health experts say the lesson here is that detention centre health staff need to be vigilant.

LOUISE NEWMAN: People are obviously screened and assessed for mental health problems, but that needs to be repeated. There are many reasons why these are high risk environments.